Students at over 70 medical schools across the country are coming together to hold nationwide “die-ins” on Wednesday to protest grand jury decisions not indict the police officers involved in the deaths of Staten Island resident Eric Garner and Ferguson, Mo’s Michael Brown. According to reports, the “white coat die-ins” at med schools in, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Philadelphia and more, is in response to Staten Island police officer Daniel Pantaleo not being charged in the choking death of Garner, and Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson being cleared in the shooting death of the 18-year-old Brown.

We as medical students feel that this is an important time for medical institutions to respond to the violence and race-related trauma that affect our communities and the patients we serve.

We feel it is essential to begin a conversation about our role in addressing the explicit and implicit discrimination and racism in our communities and reflect on the systemic biases embedded in our medical education curricula, clinical learning environments, and administrative decision-making. We believe these discussions are needed at academic medical centers nationwide.

The event is to take place on Dec. 10 at 3 PM EST, which happens to be International Human Rights Day.